Disney Unveils Plans for 'Toy Story'-esque 'The Stuff of Legends'

It’s been a busy month for Disney – the House of Mouse recently released the new trailer for their upcoming animated feature Wreck-It-Ralph and now they’ve made a pre-emptive pitch to acquire the rights to the graphic novel The Stuff of Legend with filmmaker Pete Candleland attached to direct.

The story is being billed as a dark twist on Toy Story with a nod to CS Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia mixed in for good measure. Set in 1944, a young boy’s toys set out to rescue their owner after he’s abducted by the Bogeyman and dragged into another dimension through a portal in his closet. In this new land, they’ll have to face enemy forces in the form of forgotten toys if there’s to be any hope of saving the kid they love.

While the subject matter seems a little dark for modern-day Disney, the pitch sounds intriguing. The studio plans to shoot the film as live-action with CGI backgrounds, similar to Alice in Wonderland.

For director Candleland, this marks his second deal with Disney in recent months. The commercial and video director (he’s worked previously with The Gorillaz) also has a deal in place to bring the amusement park attraction Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride to the big screen.

According to Deadline, Candleland spent over a year working on the pitch and visual presentation for the adaptation of Mike Raicht, Brian Smith, and Charles Paul Wilson III’s graphic novel. It appears that effort has paid off. We’ll bring you more details on The Stuff of Legend in the coming weeks.

Check out one of Candleland's collaborations with The Gorillaz below ...

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